The present invention is in the field of methods and apparatuses for automated pattern sewing, and in particular in the field of method and apparatuses for the automated generation and sewing of integrated border patterns for quilts and other fabric articles. In this specification, including the claims, the term “fabric article” shall be defined to mean a quilt, which is to be sewn from two or more layers of fabric, or other sewing article, such as an embroidery article, which is to be sewn from one or more layers of fabric.
Automated quilting has become increasingly popular because it allows persons to quilt who lack the time, skill, physical ability, or patience to quilt by hand. Mechanized sewing frames, including quilting frames, provide for a sewing machine to be mounted on a sewing machine carriage which is movably mounted on the quilting frame or other sewing frame. The sewing machine carriage typically has a pair of carriage motors, each motor being connected to a gear box which is connected to a carriage drive mechanism. The carriage drive mechanism interacts with the quilting frame or other sewing frame, thereby providing for the two dimensional, x-y, horizontal movement for the sewing machine carriage and the sewing machine mounted thereon. This x-y horizontal movement of the sewing machine provides for the automated positioning of the sewing machine for the automated sewing of a pattern. The fabric layers being quilted are typically held between a pair of fabric rails, a feed rail and a take up rail, the take up rail passing through the throat of the sewing machine and the feed rail being positioned outside the throat of the sewing machine. The two fabric rails provide for the linear positioning and positioning of the fabric and for maintaining a desired tension on the fabric as the sewing machine is moved in the x and y dimensions and sews a desired pattern.
Automated quilting systems typically use a digitized pattern which is selected by the user. The digitized pattern is stored and implemented by an actuator, typically a digital computer, which may be an integral part of the automated quilting system. Typically the sewing machine and hence the needle bar, have to be initially manually positioned with respect to the fabric in accordance with the sewing pattern, and then the actuator causes the sewing machine to move in accordance with the pattern and to sew the selected pattern as the sewing machine is moved. In order to provide for the automated sewing of a sewing pattern on a quilt or other fabric article that would otherwise be too large for sewing on a typical quilting or other sewing frame and sewing machine apparatus, the method and apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 8,515,571 to Bagley, the present inventor, provides for the automated segmental sewing of over-sized sewing patterns.
In the interest of appearance, creativity, and durability, most users of automated quilting systems, as well as persons quilting by hand, prefer to have a border on the quilt. A border is typically a strip or zone of fabric which extends around the periphery of the quilt and is sewn with a border pattern, which is different from the pattern used for the sewing of the quilt central zone. A quilt may have more than one border strip or zone, each of which may have a different border pattern.
Sewing enthusiasts may also desire to sew border patterns for other types of fabric articles, such as an embroidery articles. Sewing of patterns with mechanized frames, as described above for quilts, which typically have two or more fabric layers, may be accomplished for other types of fabric articles, including single fabric layer embroidery articles. The term “sewing frame” shall be defined to include, for the purposes of this specification including the claims, those fabric positioning and automated sewing machine positioning mechanisms known to persons of skill in the art to be included within the normal industry definition for the terms “quilting frame” or “sewing frame”, as well as other frames and fabric positioning and sewing machine control mechanisms which provide for positioning and for automated pattern sewing of the typical two or more fabric layers for a quilt, the typical single layer for an embroidery article, or the one or more layers for other fabric articles.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for a fabric article that will provide for a user to select or identify border characteristics, including length, width, position with respect to the quilt outer edge, the existence or non-existence of a peripheral zone, and the dimensions of the peripheral zone; will provide for the user to review pattern segments that are available for incorporation into a border pattern; and will provide for the user to select, determine the respective quantities, orient and position the border pattern segments that the user wishes to incorporate in the overall border pattern; and will provide for the sizing (scaling) and fitting of the selected border pattern segments with respect to the border zone, and for the optional interconnection of the selected, positioned, oriented and scaled border pattern segments as desired by the user.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for generating and sewing a digitized border pattern for a fabric article, the border pattern being comprised of a plurality of digitized border pattern segments which may be selected by the user through the use of a digital display of the available pattern segments from a digital pattern segment library; and may be positioned, oriented and scaled by the user, in respective quantities selected by the user, in a border zone dimensioned and positioned by the user near the perimeter of the fabric article.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for generating and sewing a digitized border pattern for a quilt or another fabric article which provides for the end lines of some or all of the border pattern segments, as selected by the user, to be connected to the end lines of respective adjacent border pattern segments in a manner selected by a user from inter-connection options generated and displayed to the user, which inter-connection options may include truncating one or both of the pattern segment end lines that are to be connected.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for a user to select or identify border characteristics, including length, width, and position with respect to the quilt outer edge, i.e. the existence or non-existence of a peripheral zone; for the user to review pattern segments that are available for incorporation into a border pattern; and for the user to select and position the border pattern segments in respective quantities selected by the user, that the user wishes to incorporate in the overall border pattern.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for generating and sewing a digitized border pattern for a quilt or another fabric article, which provides for the segmental sewing of the border pattern.